URL http://www.cded.uni-mb.si/
(information about the Hypervideo application is only available upon e-mail request)
MAIN CONTACT Matjaz Debevc, Ph.D.
ADDRESS University of Maribor, Faculty of Electric Engineering and Computer Science
Smetanova Ulica 17 SI-2000 Maribor Slovenia
E-MAIL matjaz.debevc@uni-mb.si
Pedagogy and methodology
This application dealt with one clear and specific study topic, the intention was to show students a single Electric Engineering experiment, the functioning of magnetic suspension. By using video, audio, text, pictures, animation and interactive elements in the streaming video, the experiment could be shown in an interactive way. The application succeeded in that it showed the experiment as well as providing relevant educational information together with the video. The hotspots within the video stimulate the student to go and look for further information. The application is in fact a combination of content distribution, content illustration and content interaction. Information is provided and illustrated through interactive video. A supplementary advantage of this application is the integration of these elements where content delivery, illustration and interaction are present-ed in an integratpresent-ed way.
Within the typology already described in chapter 5, this project is an example of capturing and re-using a real event (the experiment) as well as providing in depth insight into the event and by mak-ing use of supportive documents and hyperlinks, it is also an example of video supportmak-ing a learn-ing process.
Organisation and financing
This Hypervideo project is a pilot project. Students and teachers in the Faculty of Engineering can use the application for free. Other interested institutions can also make use of the application under special contract with the university. This means that the application is not publicly accessi-ble. The intention was to continue with the pilot project but lack of funding has made this impos-sible.
Lifesign started as a JISC funded project in the UK to test and evaluate the feasibility of delivering streaming media to support learning in Life Sciences. Lifesign has now evolved into an ongoing service for further education students. Although the funding from JISC has ceased, Lifesign cont-inues and is hosted by the University of Portsmouth. The concrete objectives of the project were to compile a comprehensive collection of video resources relevant to the life sciences discipline, test-ing how these resources might be delivered over networks, develop software that enables integra-tion of the resources in library systems, developing a licensing framework, providing guidelines and supportive material to embed the use of streaming media, evaluating the pedagogical effec-tiveness of streamed media and finally developing a sustainable infrastructure to guarantee the continuation of the initiative beyond the lifespan of the project.
LIFESIGN
URL http://www.lifesign.ac.uk/ and http://www.lifesign.ac.uk/default.asp MAIN CONTACT Jeremy Atkinson, Head of Learning Resources Centre
ADDRESS University of Glamorgan, Learning Resources Centre Llantwit Rd
UK-CF37 1DL Treforest Pontypridd United Kingdom
E-MAIL pjatkins@glam.ac.uk
Technology
The streaming media of Lifesign are available through Windows Media Player and there are various options so that you can choose according to the connection you have available. No other specific technical requirements are necessary.
A great deal of attention of the Lifesign project went into the catalogue and how to prepare it for searching and using the material. Both Dublin Core and IMS metadata have been reviewed in detail for the project.
In order to have workable streaming media that can be used rather then viewed only, the web data-base also showed a ‘get url’ function, so that the url of the video can be integrated in other envi-ronments that enable hyperlinks. Another feature of the Lifesign project is the cutter tool that can be used to mark parts of streaming media and add these to a personal play-list.
User group
The Lifesign catalogue is open for every higher or further education assigned IP address.
Essentially this means that every networked computer of higher education institutes has access;
students at home however do not have access. This restriction comes as a result of copyright and legal issues. The intention is to make Lifesign available to all life sciences students as well as teachers who want to make use of these images in their courses. Usage is free.
Pedagogy and methodology
The Lifesign project has several clear pedagogical goals:
• To evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of streamed video within a number of taught units in the life sciences
• To assess the impact of streamed video on current curriculum delivery within participat-ing institutions on two Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs)
• To contribute to the wider debate on the use of streaming video to support learning and teaching in UK life sciences
The Lifesign web site represents some case studies about the pedagogical effectiveness of the usage of streaming media to teach specific issues. Streaming media is compared for example with a PowerPoint presentation or a lecture to present the same sort of content. However, the evalua-tion report states that impact and usage are difficult to assess.
In our typology of usage, Lifesign represents ‘content illustration’ and in the case of using frag-ments via the cutter tool and integrating them into other applications we can say that it is about content integration and content interaction.
Organisation and financing
Lifesign, networked moving images for the life sciences, is a result of collaboration between the universities of Glamorgan, Southampton, Portsmouth and University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC). Talis Information also supports the project.
Access to the Lifesign catalogue was free for institutions and students of higher education.
Lifesign had several aims, of which one of the most important was the cataloguing of existing video material. It is important to stress the rights clearing issues here. Content was mainly provided by
the BBC but could not be distributed openly. Lifesign chose to restrict access on an IP basis, so that only predefined IP addresses could log on to the system. The evaluation report states that a pass-word log in could have been a better option.
The Technical High School of Aalen in Germany takes a blended learning approach where stream-ing video supports teachstream-ing. Lectures are recorded and made available for students over the Internet. Together with these lectures, students can see slides or other documents accompanying the course.
Technology
Aalen uses RealPlayer 8.0 for its streaming media and Internet Explorer 5.0 is required as a mini-mum. A broadband connection for Internet access with a minimum transfer rate of 256 Kbps is rec-ommended.
User group
The service is aimed at students of the Technical High School and is therefore an institutional ini-tiative. It is however possible as an outsider to request a log in to view lectures and other content.
The institution sees several advantages for students like the high level of independence and the integration of learning elements and their availability in one place as well as the flexibility in han-dling learning material.
Pedagogy and methodology
Aalen uses streaming and ICT within their concept of blended learning, which means that learning should not be entirely virtual, but that virtual means can support the learning process. Therefore, the lectures in streaming media and the accompanying presentations are integrated in WebCT, the chosen virtual learning environment.
The use of streaming is an example of content distribution to all students and content integration whereby the streaming media are synchronised with and accompany other information resources.
Interactivity is rather low, the streaming videos can only be played, paused or stopped. In the vir-tual learning environment there are, however, discussion forums and collaborative tools for work-ing with content.